Lingering Effects
by Kodiak Bear Country
Summary: Episode addition to Brotherhood. [COMPLETE]


Lingering Effects

"Do you want to drive?" I asked McKay. It wasn't because I trusted him with my Jumper, he still sucked as a pilot, but I felt bad for him. He'd opened up to the woman, and been burned. It probably wasn't a first, and it wouldn't be the last, but it didn't help that the fate of hundreds depended on that ZPM. It was only a matter of time until the Wraith found us, and without that shield we'd be sitting ducks on the water.

McKay brightened. "Really?"

I clasped an arm around his shoulder, and gave him a nice hard, friendly shake, maybe a little harder than needed, but I was feeling a bit exuberant, because at the very least, we'd all managed to come out of another confrontation with Koyla alive, and intact. There was something to be said for that. "Really."

Ford and Teyla exchanged their knowing looks. I wasn't getting anything past them. It was kind of ironic; the smartest member of the team was also the most naïve member of the team.

We got into the Jumper without running into anymore bad guys out to kill us, or steal from us, a fact I was rather thankful for, and I took the co-pilot seat, letting McKay settle in, and start up the ship. My trick seemed to be working. Rodney was losing that self-recriminating look he had carried almost all the way back, after Allina had turned on us.

If I was being fair, I can see why she did it. Doesn't mean I like it, or wish it couldn't be different, or undone, but a bunch of strangers show up on your world, find your most sacred relic, and confess to not being the Ancients who entrusted you with said relic; not many would hand it over, and wish you well.

The Jumper rocked into the sky, and I had to grab for the console to stay in my seat. "Easy," I said, striving to not shout. I'd keep the gloves on; at least for another day or so, after that, it was 'all fair in love and war'. It was mostly war for us two, but we still managed to muddle through, and find a friendship.

McKay steadied the Jumper. "Why didn't you join Mensa?" he finally asked. "And why didn't you ever tell me?"

I stared crossways at McKay, "Mensa is overrated, and what conversation would it have ever come up in?"

"Oh, I don't know, the conversation where you're about to die on a booby trapped puzzle that I can't solve, and you do solve it, whereupon you say, and I quote, I saw it on the Mensa test, unquote," McKay smiled smugly, because, as they say in Rome, Et tu, Brute.

"Yeah, well, there's that one," I conceded grudgingly.

I was beginning to feel dizzy, and wondered if maybe I shouldn't have passed on that power bar from earlier. Maybe even some water. I got up, and was surprised when I staggered into McKay.

"What are you trying to do, crash us?" he yelped, because my falling into him, cause a cascade reaction where his arm jerked, the Jumper jerked, and I went flying the opposite way, onto my seat, and against the bulkhead.

I swore, because that hurt. And now I wasn't just feeling dizzy, I was also feeling nauseous, and realized I'd better find some kind of container, or I'd be persona non grata for the remainder of the trip home. I lurched back to my feet, and was alarmed to realize the Jumper was tilting, and it wasn't McKay's flying. _Oh God_, I ran for the back, and found a bucket we'd used for the digging.

I heard shouts from McKay, wondering what was going on, and I heard Ford and Teyla asking me what was wrong. The problem was, I didn't know. I was heaving so hard I'd swear I was trying to bring up my intestines through my mouth, was that even possible? The dank, earthy smell of the bucket, from leftover traces of the planet Dagan, wasn't helping my stomach to settle; even with the heaving bringing up nothing but acidic bile that burned it's way up my esophagus.

I couldn't take it any longer, and I slumped to the side, and welcomed the supporting hold from Teyla as she eased me to the bench. "Major, tell us what is wrong, Ford is radioing for Doctor Beckett."

I wondered if I looked as bad as I felt. I was shivering, and my gut was cramped so tight it felt like a rubber band pulled as taut as it can go, just before it snaps. "My stomach," I complained, loudly, because damn it, it _hurt._

Ford came back to the rear of the ship, and knelt beside me. He was staring at me with stark fear, so I must've looked as bad as I felt. "Beckett's waiting in the Jumper bay, hang on, Major."

I heard what he was saying, and logically, I knew that it would only be minutes, but I wasn't sure I'd be alive in a few minutes, it was that painful. "I'm trying," I managed to say through clenched teeth.

Somehow, I made it, and I'm not sure I ever want to go through something like that again. McKay was hovering, and Beckett was shouting orders, and then I was being lifted onto the gurney. I was praying to pass out, but it wouldn't come. I saw the ceiling, and the halls blur, as I was wheeled towards the infirmary. I heard McKay snapping at one of the nurses for jarring the bed against the door, when it caused me to cry out from the pain.

"What's happening?" I tried to ask, but I wasn't sure the question was intelligible.

No one responded. My clothes were being cut-off, the wonders of emergency situations, no time for undressing a person neatly. I felt a sheet tossed over my body, and the contact caused another wave of agony throughout my body. I clenched my eyes shut to the point where it hurt, and I hoped by having pain somewhere else it'd make the pain burning in my gut more bearable. The problem with that, was the pain was spreading, and I was finding it hard to breathe.

"Doctor, his O2 level is dropping, 84…82…79…"

"Get the intubation kit, stat!" I heard Carson order.

I felt my head loll to the side, enough to where I could see people, and there was McKay, staring at me like I was already dead. I wanted to tell him it'd be all right. I wanted to tell him I wasn't going to give up, I wasn't going to die, but I couldn't get my mouth to respond anymore.

Next thing I knew, Beckett had gripped my chin, and pulled my face to where I could see him. "Major, we've got to intubate. We can't sedate you because we don't know what's happening. Rodney thinks you were exposed to the lethal toxin from the puzzle pedestal, through your skin contact. I'm sorry, but this is going to be very uncomfortable, son."

I reached out; wanting to hold on to something, and felt my hand enclosed in a strong grip, and I knew it was McKay. He wasn't going to leave me. The medical team prepped me, and I lost it, the pain and the lack of oxygen won over whatever had been keeping me from passing out before. The last thing I was aware of, was the hand promising I wouldn't be alone, no matter what happened.

"It was an extremely lethal paralytic drug. Direct blood contact would kill virtually instantaneously, as Rodney described with the Genii soldier." Beckett explained.

I heard a soft intake of air. "Will he recover?" Elizabeth, then.

I heard Beckett move, and I could imagine him leaning against a nearby bed, and crossing his arms. "Aye, and I'd be surprised if he wasn't up on his feet by the end of the day. Once we were able to stabilize him, his body began to recover quickly. A very lethal drug, but it wears off very quickly."

"I should've thought about that," McKay spoke, and he sounded nearer than the others. "Skin contact so soon, absorption, I'm an idiot, and it almost cost the Major his life."

"McKay, you're not omnipotent," I croaked. The tube must have gone while I was out, the memory of it going down, and the gagging and fighting its invasiveness, was fading along with the pain I'd suffered from the toxin.

I guess I surprised them, because I heard the sharp rapping of footsteps as they converged on my bed. I guess it was time to open my eyes. I did so, gingerly, because it just felt like I should do everything gingerly. I'm glad I'd heard Beckett say I should be on my feet by evening, because if he hadn't, I'd never have believed recovery was possible. I was sore, weak, exhausted.

"You gave us quite a scare, Major." Beckett said.

I smiled. "Getting to be a habit, can I get a stop-dying patch?"

"Sorry, all out, but come back next week, and I'll see what I can do." Carson gave me a once over, and said he'd check on me in a few hours, and that I was going to be fine, before ducking out and leaving me with Elizabeth and McKay.

Elizabeth seemed to consider me, and I think she wanted to talk to me alone, but McKay wasn't exactly king of interpreting social situations, and he remained by my side, steadfast in his commitment to see me through this, out of a misplaced guilt or loyalty, take your pick.

"Listen to Carson, John. We need you on your feet," she said.

And everything she didn't say was standing between us. I _need_. She cared, more than she let on, but then again, so did I. Someday, who knows, but not this day. I lifted my hand, and she took it, and clasped it between both hers, and then she released it. "I'll be back later," she said warmly. "Rodney, don't let him get up."

We both watched Elizabeth walk out the door. I pulled my eyes away from her, and back to McKay. "So, you blame yourself."

He frowned. McKay didn't like confrontation. I think it reminded him of some unpleasant childhood memories. Being a scientist, nerd, he'd probably suffered from bullying as a kid. Most people did, but some worse than others. He'd found his backbone, but at what cost?

"I should've thought to wipe it off. Two seconds, that's it, _two seconds_ and you wouldn't be lying here."

"I meant what I said, you're not God, McKay." I lectured him harshly. "You may be a genius, not going to argue the finer points of IQ with you, but no one can see all ends, and all possibilities. You've got to learn to let this go."

"Easy for you to say," he sat at the edge of my bed, perched on the foot, and he had one knee crooked. "What would you think if it were me lying there?"

I stared at him, thrown by the question. I guess the answer was written across my face, because he pointed his finger, "Aha, see! See, what'd I tell you."

"That's not fair," I started to say, but was cut-off.

"Yes, it is, what's good for the goose, Major," McKay accused, and with merit, because he was right.

"Fine, so we both have Zeus complexes, we both need to get over it."

That made Rodney smile. "I'm willing to try, if you are."

I grinned back. "It might take a while, you know, old dogs."

"Who you calling old?"

Carson leaned back in his chair, as he listened to the good-natured bantering coming out of the infirmary. He knew that, at least for this day, another disaster had been averted, and all was okay in their little corner of the universe, at least for this day. The Wraith were coming, and they'd be here soon, but that was for another day.

THE END


End file.
